Socks & Bracelets: Rituals of the Past & Present

PAST: In my adolesence, I played fast-pitch softball for ten years, ending in high school as the first-string pitcher for our team. My original passion for sports. I loved it—I ate it up, all of it! Pre-game rituals became a part of that life as an athlete. I wasn’t the only one—as we all had some ‘thing’ that we did or said before an important game. Who am I kidding, back then they were all important. For me it was my socks. I’m chuckling at myself right now because I still have them! Or at least the last pair from my high school days. No matter what, these were the socks (referred to as stirrups) that I would wear for every game. If we were on a winning streak—they would not get washed. Nope! Only until we experienced a loss would I allow them to go through the washer wringer to cleanse away any bad juju. Thinking back now, of course, dirty or clean the outcome of a game had nothing to do with my socks, but so goes the life of many athletes. Whether it is making the sign of the cross, saying a little prayer or wearing your magic socks!

PRESENT: My new sport, if it can be called a sport…feels more like a passion, is hiking. It even has a name, and if you are reading this you probably already know that. I call it my Sixty60 Journey. Sixty hikes to my 60th birthday. Currently in progress at no. 40…

It was during a visit with my hiking mentor, Lisa King, where we were about to embark on hike no. 3/60, I noticed a beaded wrap bracelet on her dining room table. It was as if a light was shining on it and I knew I had to have one. Turns out Lisa’s good friend hand creates them, (Beatnik Treasures) and in great immediacy I was ordering one for myself. I knew, like I knew, like I knew, that this bracelet would become my ritual, my “socks” during this hiking journey. I call it/them (actually bought two) my “trail treasures.” I never hike without them. They are liken to pulling up my magic socks before a game. I wrap the beaded one five-times around my left wrist and anchor it with the other one above it, everytime. I believe that they are attracting and collecting with each hike all of the positive energy I am hiking through in this communal journey with nature and life. Absorbing all of those good, nurturing, and healing vibrations, never to be washed…ever. Coumpounding one experience on top of the other. Always with me. Constant comforting companions on the trails, especially if I am hiking alone.

That’s it, a short share about socks and bracelets. I hope you will take time to check out the love imbedded work of Stacy Kent and her self-made company of jewelry at Beatnik Treasures!